Your expertise far outweighs mine when it comes to such things, Mustakettu85. The ambient occlusion pass that I produce makes use of the AO brick built into Shader Mixer. The shader is much more complicated than just that brick (for sure), but that's the base. I'm not sure what method the brick uses.

Thanks for the ideas. I will definitely investigate this further!

I guess you do use the "scripted renderer", correct? To use the point-based method you'd only need to add an extra pass to your render script. As for the shader, being a shader _builder_ rather than shader _mixer_ user, I have to say I do not know if the shader mixer brick supports it (the AO shader should be informed of the point cloud name that gets generated in that pass - and we do not have the source code of the brick to check), but if UberEnvironment does (and it does), chances are shader mixer does, too. I guess I could test this assumption as soon as I have a chance (not tomorrow... it's Christmas here).

I love your rendition of Opus Magnum. It's stunning. And I agree with everyone in this thread about the wonderful 'thing' you've accomplished. My favorite style you've come up with by far, though, is your Noodles in the Woods. I could stare at that for hours and hours just soaking it in. Thanks for the pleasure you've given.

Thanks Spit - means a lot. And I know what you mean - I do love me some Noodles in the Woods! There's somebody near & dear to me who has a Siamese, so Noodle was one of the first products I purchased for DAZ. Been working on some new ones with him with LAMH, so you'll be seeing him again.

I guess you do use the "scripted renderer", correct? To use the point-based method you'd only need to add an extra pass to your render script. As for the shader, being a shader _builder_ rather than shader _mixer_ user, I have to say I do not know if the shader mixer brick supports it (the AO shader should be informed of the point cloud name that gets generated in that pass - and we do not have the source code of the brick to check), but if UberEnvironment does (and it does), chances are shader mixer does, too. I guess I could test this assumption as soon as I have a chance (not tomorrow... it's Christmas here).

Nope, I'm actually not using the scripted renderer. I appreciate the offer Mustakettu85, but please don't go through any hassle. I'm not sure how much more development (if any) I'll be doing in DS.

I really like this style, too. There is just something riveting about the way the final picture looks.

I truly appreciate people's thoughts and comments about the different styles. Getting a flavor for which ones people enjoy the most (and why) helps in figuring out where to best focus on future styles. Thanks, Knittingmommy.

On another note, the big image looks blurry. Must have uploaded something bigger than 800 pixels wide - doh!

I really like this style, too. There is just something riveting about the way the final picture looks.

I truly appreciate people's thoughts and comments about the different styles. Getting a flavor for which ones people enjoy the most (and why) helps in figuring out where to best focus on future styles. Thanks, Knittingmommy.

On another note, the big image looks blurry. Must have uploaded something bigger than 800 pixels wide - doh!

- Greg

Uploaded new images for the executioner and the assassin. For those that may not know or have realized it, the forums will resize inline images to 800 pixels wide if they are wider. This can really effect the appearance of line art!

Nope, I'm actually not using the scripted renderer. I appreciate the offer Mustakettu85, but please don't go through any hassle. I'm not sure how much more development (if any) I'll be doing in DS.

Oh wow, then it probably means that your workflow is quite a bit more complicated than I thought, if you're doing all those passes/AOVs/inking through shader mixer alone... which I found a particularly unwieldy tool, so I'm awed by those who can do anything serious with it.

Nope, I'm actually not using the scripted renderer. I appreciate the offer Mustakettu85, but please don't go through any hassle. I'm not sure how much more development (if any) I'll be doing in DS.

Oh wow, then it probably means that your workflow is quite a bit more complicated than I thought, if you're doing all those passes/AOVs/inking through shader mixer alone... which I found a particularly unwieldy tool, so I'm awed by those who can do anything serious with it.

PS You can call me simply Kettu =)

The analysis passes are the only things being accomplished in DS. All of the subsequent fractal algorithms, HDR processing, derivative masking, and decision making is being done outside of DS with the analysis passes as input.

It is complicated, but the automation makes it manageable. I simply drag & drop a script onto a scene in DS, and the 8 analysis passes are rendered. Then, I simply drag & drop the directory containing the 8 passes over another grinder script that launches the rest of the process and creates the illustrations. I've got it setup so I can drop a group of directories for batch processing, too.

The whole thing is really a gigantic systems integration project, with the added complication of getting some sort of artificial intelligence to make decisions all throughout the process so that human intervention is unnecessary.

The analysis passes are the only things being accomplished in DS. All of the subsequent fractal algorithms, HDR processing, derivative masking, and decision making is being done outside of DS with the analysis passes as input.

It is complicated, but the automation makes it manageable. I simply drag & drop a script onto a scene in DS, and the 8 analysis passes are rendered. Then, I simply drag & drop the directory containing the 8 passes over another grinder script that launches the rest of the process and creates the illustrations. I've got it setup so I can drop a group of directories for batch processing, too.

The whole thing is really a gigantic systems integration project, with the added complication of getting some sort of artificial intelligence to make decisions all throughout the process so that human intervention is unnecessary.

I see now, thanks for explaining. So, not even using the built-in 3DL outliner, twice the "wow"! Sorry I can't seem to find this in your threads, but are you on Windows? If yes, then it must've been hell to make such a complex system work.

The analysis passes are the only things being accomplished in DS. All of the subsequent fractal algorithms, HDR processing, derivative masking, and decision making is being done outside of DS with the analysis passes as input.

It is complicated, but the automation makes it manageable. I simply drag & drop a script onto a scene in DS, and the 8 analysis passes are rendered. Then, I simply drag & drop the directory containing the 8 passes over another grinder script that launches the rest of the process and creates the illustrations. I've got it setup so I can drop a group of directories for batch processing, too.

The whole thing is really a gigantic systems integration project, with the added complication of getting some sort of artificial intelligence to make decisions all throughout the process so that human intervention is unnecessary.

I see now, thanks for explaining. So, not even using the built-in 3DL outliner, twice the "wow"! Sorry I can't seem to find this in your threads, but are you on Windows? If yes, then it must've been hell to make such a complex system work.

Man . . . I just looked at the post I made yesterday, and how the forums re-compressed a 800x450 pixel image to 57kb. Really mangles the lines & paint strokes. Makes me not want to post in the forums any longer!

I used to play RPG games when I was younger, I mean the old pencil and paper games - which people still play. Line art in these, for example D&D and Call of Cthulhu were used a lot and added to the atmosphere. If I were to design some campaigns for CoC this is exactly the kind of artwork I would be interested in using (as I am no good at drawing) - especially things like that last one with the guy in the hat - he'd make a great hoodlum.

If you post to your gallery here, you can then link to the full render and have it appear here in line.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I grabbed a domain and a DA account for algovincian a while ago (haven't really done anything with them - just grabbin 'em so nobody else can), so I've got plenty of places to upload/link to. I was just looking for a convenient way to do everything from one page/site, and I like the forums better than the gallery for the conversations here at DAZ.

I used to play RPG games when I was young, I mean the old pencil and paper games - which continue to be enjoyed. Line art in these, for example D&D and Call of Cthulhu were used a lot and added to the atmosphere. If I were to design some campaigns for CoC this is exactly the kind of artwork I would be interested in using (as I am no good at drawing) - especially things like that last one with the guy in the hat - he'd make a great hoodlum.

Me, too. I love the art in the Monster Manuals, Player's Handbooks, DM's Guides, etc. It's funny you should say that, because I've often thought of doing a "DAZ Manual", or maybe a "RawArt Manual" / "Midnight Stories Manual" / [insert PA here], as threads here in the forums. Unfortunately, I lack the time to do the writing and put it all together.

Eventually, this tech *will* end up being used in commercial endeavors . . .

They really helped them come to life didn't they. I'd still like to dig out some of my old CoC work and make something out of them, I am sure I would enjoy it. The trouble now is I don't know anyone who still plays CoC which was my favourite, although I've played with a few people online. Food for thought anyway.

Oh i really like this one, setting up npr renders even in carrara isnt all that easy.
Seems like there was an old penciler from days gone by that illustrated in dots. Kelly Freas i think but i could be wrong.
Nonetheless the costume and hair is awesome.

Oh i really like this one, setting up npr renders even in carrara isnt all that easy. Seems like there was an old penciler from days gone by that illustrated in dots. Kelly Freas i think but i could be wrong. Nonetheless the costume and hair is awesome.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a moment to check things out, A3DLover. The hair is Sea Nymph IIRC (which I failed to mention in this image, but have mentioned before). It's great hair and I use in a lot of my renders. It comes with some morphs that help create the feeling of motion.

I bought Carrara maybe 6 months ago and I like the software. Didn't realize it was essentially dead (unfortunately), so I haven't invested much time at all into using it.

Not sure this style works for a full scene (as opposed to just a character on a uncomplicated background), but I figured I'd try it out . . .

I'd say it works very well.

And yes, the image resampling in the forum software is annoying. But it looks to me that it only resamples JPEG files not PNG. So you could try PNG which, being lossless, might offer more quality for lineart.